Resistance to antibiotics discussed

The National Institute of Health (NIH) in collaboration with Fleming Fund Country Grant to Pakistan conducted a two-day national symposium on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a statement said on Thursday.

The symposium which was semi-virtual due to the on-going pandemic provided a platform to understand the challenges, impact and progress of AMR in human, animal and environmental health sectors across Pakistan. AMR is one of the biggest public health threats in the world today. It represents the capability of microorganisms to evolve in such a manner as to render the antimicrobials we have long used against them as ineffective.

While chairing the National Virtual Symposium, NIH Executive Director Maj Gen Prof Aamer Ikram said: “It is a fact, not everyone is aware that antibiotics need to be used in an appropriate manner to prevent the emergence of the resistant superbugs.”

He said this kind of a symposium has provided a much-needed platform for the key stakeholders to sit together and introduce massive changes to the present practices of the use of antimicrobial agents in human, animal and environmental health sectors under a collective One Health approach.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2020.